Google and USAID Push Science Diplomacy

At the Council on Foreign Relations, Vinton G. Cerf and Alex O. Dehgan discussed that science can help diplomacy, diplomacy can help science, and the two can work together for the benefit of both. Cerf went on to say that building relationships with other countries around science helps build trust in other areas, and you can use the consequences of science to build economic engagements as well.

Science can help diplomacy, diplomacy can help science, and the two can work together for the benefit of both, according to Vinton G. Cerf--one of the "fathers" of the Internet and now Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google--and Alex O. Dehgan--Director of the Office of Science and Technology at the U.S. Agency for International Development

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations tonight, Cerf said that building relationships with other countries around science helps build trust in other areas, and you can use the consequences of science to build economic engagements as well. As an example, he talked about his work to help the Russian people get on the Internet after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Dehgan said science diplomacy is one of the tools that the State Department and other U.S. diplomats use to engage all sorts of other countries. He talked about how the U.S. has to be thinking about global problems, saying international issues, from global warming to food supplies, affect domestic policy and security.

More after the jump.

The panel on the topic of "Engaging Through Science" was moderated by Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Much of the initial discussion was about using science as a method of diplomacy.

Dehgan talked about how science gives people a shared culture and a shared set of values, such as openness and meritocracy, and mentioned that many foreign leaders are actually scientists, engineers, and doctors. Cerf made the point that many more foreign leaders had science backgrounds than U.S. leaders, although he said that was changing, pointing out the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize winner.

Deghan discussed how spreading science and technology often leads to the best kind of diplomacy, noting that the people we technically train in Africa became the next level of leaders in their countries.

Cerf explained how science and Internet can work together to impact societies. He said sciences require information exchanges, and the Internet creates an infrastructure for sharing information and also works as platform for discovery, such as sharing information about the Human Genome. He noted that during the Soviet period, the Soviets didn't allow their scientists to know what was going on, which hurt scientific innovation.In turn, a need for exchanging information eventually leads to more open communications.

Cerf stated that today, 2.5 billion people are online, but 4 billion aren't. Going out there and providing people with equipment and training and letting those people operate the systems is a good step forward. There are currently 5 billion mobile devices in use and growing with internet capability, he said. For a lot of people, then, their first introduction to the Internet will be through the mobile phone. That, plus social networking, allows you to be in touch with more people.

Cerf went on to note the issues involved, and sounded pretty optimistic. Some governments will try to suppress information, he said, and some will succeed in the short-term. But he quoted Lincoln, saying "You can't fool all of the people all of the time," and said the same applied to information.

Much of the conversation was about the challenges facing society over the next few years--not just the Internet, but things like diseases, water, and food scarcity, according to Jackson.

Dehgan said during 2030 to 2050, we'll need Foreign Service officers who understand climate change, AIDS, and species reduction. He talked about looking for innovation all over the world. When creating medical equipment for developing countries, scientists end up producing solutions that are better designed (because of lower literacy rates requiring more ease of use), more rugged (because they have to work in tougher environments) and are more economic. So in working on such products, we'll help solve our own health care issue. "Science diplomacy works when the benefits go both ways," he said.

Cerf made the point that we "exist in a connected world," and not just in the sense of computer networks; much of what happens in the rest of the world affects U.S. citizens as well. He said there are more smart people in the world who are not in the United States than people in the U.S., and the goal has to be to get the best scientists everywhere in the world to work on the big projects.

If we don't pay attention to what other people are doing, we won't be able to understand the best of current science, Cerf said, citing a paper he recently read from Inner Mongolia on folding proteins.

The two speakers had an interesting disagreement on science and the stability of the countries. Cerf said you need a stable government to do good science, so we need to think about helping build stable governments to get more science. But Dehgan thinks science comes to bear in solving the problems that get you stability. He said many people were skeptical about the Iraqi Virtual Science Laboratory, but it now has about 9,000 active users, with 1.2 million articles downloaded. This inspires people and creates hope, he said.

Dehgan claims science diplomacy works best when its "de-politicized," citing how many people in Iran are interested in science.

Both made the point that spreading scientific solutions required going "beyond governments" with individuals and businesses working together towards openness and open innovation.

Dehgan said he wrote a memo to his administrator, in which he said, "I've seen the future of development--and we're not in it." He talked about how many different groups are now involved in development, including international organizations, students, companies, and entrepreneurs. In particular, he explained that micro-enterprises on campuses were created by scientists, engineers, and social entrepreneurs, and how companies like Nike are working to improve energy efficiency in emerging countries.

Still, Dehgan pushed for additional spending to promote science through diplomacy, saying that by making these investments in science, we can leverage science and economic advantages we have in the U.S.

When asked about how to better involve scientists in policy, Cerf said teach public speaking. "If you want your ideas to be adopted, you need to learn to sell those ideas," he said.It's important to promote science on a K-12 level. Jackson said it was important for university students to understand how science is done in different cultures and countries.

Cerf promoted Google's global science fair, saying it helps put a spotlight on science in the U.S. and globally. We don't celebrate scientists like we do sports figure and celebrities, he noted. He liked the idea of getting people who are willing to share their scientific knowledge overseas, in something like a "scientific peace corps."

Michael J. Miller's Forward Thinking Blog: forwardthinking.pcmag.com
Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, responsible for the editorial direction, quality and presentation of the world's largest computer publication.
Until late 2006, Miller was the Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media, responsible for overseeing the editorial positions of Ziff Davis's magazines, websites, and events. As Editorial Director for Ziff Davis Publishing since 1997, Miller took an active role in...
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